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Breathing Life Into Your Cold Mailing List

May 18, 2016 By Concept

We’ve all heard of the person who never misses a deadline, creates content 52 weeks a year and doesn’t struggle with time efficiency. If that’s you, then you can skip this lesson. The rest of us will talk about how to breathe life into an email list if you’ve let it go cold – in other words, if you haven’t emailed them in weeks, months, or even years.

Stop beating yourself up

First of all – it’s OK. Maybe you aren’t one of those perfect people. Do they even exist anyway? Every business owner has strengths and weaknesses and every single one struggles with time management and productivity in whatever way that may appear.

You’ve got something to start with

If you’re reading this, the chances are you already have a mailing list. Your audience knows who you are. Once upon a time, you’ve offered them something of value and created good rapport. So now, the task is to pick up where you left off!

The 5‑part series

A series is a good place to start breathing life into your cold mailing list. Why? Because something labeled “Message 4 in Concept Designs’ Awesome New Series” will make them realise there’s something worth paying attention to.

Here’s a framework you can use:

Find a problem

A great way to start off your series is with a call to action. Involve your audience with your product by asking them what problems they are struggling with. Your social media networks are a great place to start asking.

Answer the 5 stand-out questions

Do you see the trend? Once you’ve collected a pile of interesting problems, it’s your turn to be the hero your customers need! You’ll answer 5 of their problems in your 5‑part series. Because you’re getting the word out about your list, make sure you include links to earlier questions and answers for those readers who may not have looked at that content.

Don’t worry about unsubscribes

If it has been a while since you mailed your list, the truth is some of your subscribers will have forgotten who you are. So naturally, there will be a small spike in unsubscribes. To help manage this, write a note like the one below at the very beginning of your first three or four messages when breathing life into your cold mailing list:

Not sure why you’re getting this message? You subscribed to (name of your newsletter) on [insert date here, if your email provider allows for this]. If you don’t want to receive it anymore, click the link at the bottom of this email to unsubscribe.

After the first three or four messages, place this message at the bottom of your email message instead of the top. Some people will unsubscribe, simply because they’ve moved on. This is perfectly normal. If they’ve moved on, so should you!

Have fun with your mailing list! Know your audience and use the questions they have to keep creating content.

How To Improve Your Facebook Video Ads

May 10, 2016 By Concept

Have you ever used Facebook Video Ads? Have you already got ads on Facebook, but find that they aren’t as effective as you’d hoped? Here at Concept Designs, we know how influential great Facebook video ads can be – let us show you how to improve your reach and grow your business.

1. Use Facebook tools to tailor your ads to your audience

Use Facebook Insights within your Facebook Ad profile to find your audience’s needs that your business or product can fill. Age, gender, lifestyle, relationship status, education level job title, and even location or the composition of their household income can help you understand your audience.

2. Facebook Ads should capture attention quickly

Use the first five seconds of your ad intentionally. What’s the problem? How can you fix it? Strong text, great visuals and a catchy audio will help; generally audio is muted until the user clicks on the ad, and you want to engage them to continue watching.

3. Create Ads that don’t look like ads

Facebook is a social platform- create an easily-shareable ad that is unique, insightful, contains humour or news, and is not too commercially orientated.

4. What’s your message, and how long should it be?

Take about 30 seconds to deliver your message, though if your ad is particularly unique or insightful, up to two minutes may be appropriate. Think about the five W’s:

Who – are you talking to?

What – are you offering?

When – is your product limited or always available?

Where – can people find your product?

Why – does your product fill someone’s need?

5. Create different ads for different audience segments

Create separate ads for different audience awareness of your brand. For new clients/users, build their awareness: be simple and leave them wanting to know more. For people who know about your brand but aren’t yet customers, focus on the additional features or benefits that make your business beat the competition.

6. Run A/B tests to Optimize ads

An A/B test is creating two nearly identical versions of the same video, and testing both on your Facebook page to see which one is more successful. Split your ads into sections, change just one section, and see which one performs better. Once you have the winner, create another version of the same ad, making another small change, and see which is preferred.

Here at Concept Designs, we know first-hand the benefits of Facebook Video Ads. Give us a call or send us an email, and let us help you engage your audience in this exciting way.

Cold Calling – are your messages getting through?

April 12, 2016 By Concept

A time-honoured method of marketing, Cold Calling has been around for nearly 150 years, originating in 1873 by John Patterson, NCR founder. The Question is, does it still work?

Let’s face it, we’ve all had that call in the middle of dinner. You probably felt irritated because of the bad timing, or the caller was too pushy. You might have thought about Cold Calling for your business but worry whether you’ll get very far.

Good news is, Cold Calling can still be a useful promotional tool for your business, if done right. To do so you must disassociate the image of ‘spammer’ and plan ahead. The reason Cold Calling has gained an unfavourable reputation over the years stems from some common issues outlined below (and how you should avoid them!):

Go through the entire phone book, any number is a potential lead.

Gone are the days where only select households has a phone, and when it’s special to hear it ring. The old method of going through the phone book will waste time and resources. It’s better to research, and select a target segment who are likely interested to hear from you. Make sure you can offer something they need from you.

More calls = more sales

Casting your nets all over and making lots of calls are likely to get you more rejections. Time is better spent on the right people you’ve researched and focus on selling to them more personally. Set a time and budget, if you plan to do one hour of calling a day, make it count. Quality is better than quantity of calls.

Read the script a million times

Again, the personalised approach will work much better. Find out if you have something in common, or if you know someone from their network, which boosts your confidence as a legitimate caller with real value to offer. Let them know how your business can help them in a non-mechanical way, tailor your speech to suit their situation and needs.

Success is based on manipulation

Don’t try to up-sell or make unattainable promises. Pushy, manipulative selling disrespects your customers and over time will negatively impact your reputation. That’s a no brainer.

Thinking about using Cold Calling for your business? Concept Designs & Marketing can help you save time and resources, from target segmenting to planning an optimised calling process, so you can focus on selling – the pleasant way! Get in touch today.

Internet Security- Prove your Website is trustworthy

March 22, 2016 By Concept

We’ve all heard stories of traditional identity theft- mail stolen and bank accounts being emptied, fake id’s created and used, and credit card information being stolen without the owner even realising. The risks to security in the digital age are no different- and just as impacting for your customers. The way you handle security and your customer’s information is paramount to your business being trusted.

SSL certificates (or Secure Sockets Layer certificates) are a perfect way for you to protect your customer’s private information such as passwords, names and addresses, or credit card data. It’s no longer just shopping cart websites that need to focus on customer security- any webpage that captures data from a customer (including things like email signups or website contact forms) should include SSL certificates.

Every day, SSL secures millions of peoples’ data on the Internet. Internet users have come to associate their online security with being able to see the padlock icon that is shown by any SSL-secured website, or by noticing the green address bar that comes with an extended validation SSL-secured website. When you look at the web address bar, SSL-secured websites also begin with the prefix “https” rather than “http”.

Even Google acknowledge the importance of SSL certificates. In a recent post on their website, they said:

“We’d like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web[1]”.

Here at Concept Designs and Marketing, we can help you secure your website, and help you continue to develop your customer’s trust as they interact and share information with you online. Take seriously the security threats that exist online, and show your target market that you are worthy of their business and trust- contact us today for help with SSL certificates for your website.

[1] https://security.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal_6.html

Your LinkedIn Profile – Are you getting views?

March 14, 2016 By Concept

With more than 400 million users and around two new members every second, is your LinkedIn profile merely a presence? Are you getting the views you need to stand out from the crowd?

How your profile looks to the public:

Have you wondered how you appear to the public when people search for you? Google yourself and one of the search results should be your LinkedIn public profile. Click on your own profile and see for yourself:

(make sure you’re not already signed-in on LinkedIn, you want to see the preview version that appears to the general public, even if they’re not LinkedIn users)

This is what people form their first impression and perception of you. So be sure it showcases your abilities and experiences well. Include a professional portrait if you have one, a good photo conveys a feeling of professionalism and creates a positive, lasting impression on your potential connections.

Your LinkedIn Profile:

Next, view your profile as a LinkedIn user, do you have an eye-catching summary that draws the attention of potential contacts to find out more? More importantly, is your information up-to-date? Your profile should make people interested in you and know what your skills are. Look around at users who have large networks and see how their profile is presented. However, don’t overload your profile which makes it hard to read, keep it interesting and to the point.

Building your network:

One of your aims on LinkedIn should be expanding your network. Your connections affects how easily you are found. LinkedIn elevate search results for connections within a network, so the more connected you are the higher the likelihood your profile will be seen. Having a complete and well written profile will help you get connected. Remember, there are millions of users out there, so make yourself stand out!

LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool that can be leveraged to build your professional and brand reputation online. An optimised LinkedIn profile will save you time and allow you to fully realise this potential. Here at Concept Designs and Marketing, we provide LinkedIn Optimisation services that help you achieve this goal. Our LinkedIn experts can evaluate your profile and pinpoint areas for improvement, maximising your visibility. We can also help you identify connections which expand your professional network and increase your profile views.

Get in touch today to find out more about our LinkedIn Optimisation service!

Facebook Ads for the Local Customer Audience

March 7, 2016 By Concept

There are many ways Facebook can help your business grow, one of which is using Facebook Local Awareness Ads that specifically target customers in your local area for a more effective response. Want to reach people near your business on Facebook and direct them to your doorstep? Here’s how:

Setting up a Campaign

In your Facebook Ads Manager, select the objective for Local Awareness as your campaign. Instead of just boosting your post, this will let you reach those that are in the chosen local area of your business location.

Select the Local Customer Audience Your Business Needs To Reach

Decide the geographical location of where your Ad should be targeting, you can also choose certain demographics such as Age and Gender, Facebook will estimate the number of people the Ad will potentially reach. You can be more specific by entering a full street address of your store, and specifying the radius to be reached of that physical address.

Creating Your Ad for the Local Customer:

Include relevant Images that is related to your Ad Campaign. For example, if you have a Promotion or Sale, use attractive images of merchandise that’s on sale – remember the image is a powerful visual that will make the first impression to your potential customers. Your description and headline for the Ad should be convincing and move people to engage with your business. Be sure to include a Call to Action button for the Ad, this can be a “Like Page”, “Learn More”, “Call Now”, “Send Message” or “Get Directions” if you have a street address for your business page- bringing customers to your shopfront.

If you have multiple locations, you can create individual Ads for each area you’re targeting, this will allow you to customise the Ads towards each group and track which areas are responding better than others.

Do you have a business that needs to target your local area? Thought about using Facebook Ads to reach those customers? Our Facebook experts at Concept Designs and Marketing can assist you identifying an audience for your business and reaching them effectively. Get in touch today and see how we can help!